Hebephilia
Hebephilia refers to an adult's sexual preference for pubescent youths; the term was introduced by Glueck (1955).Glueck, B. C., Jr. (1955). Final report: Research project for the study and treatment of persons convicted of crimes involving sexual aberrations. June 1952 to June 1955. New York: New York State Department of Mental Hygiene. It differs from ephebophilia, which refers to the erotic interest in individuals in mid- to late adolescence,Krafft-Ebing, R., & Moll, A. (1924). Psychopathia sexualis. Stuttgart: Ferdinand Enke. and from pedophilia, which refers to the erotic interest in prepubescent children.Krafft-Ebing, R. von. (1886). Psychopathia sexualis: A medico-forensic study (1965 trans by H. E. Wedeck). New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. While individuals with a sexual preference for adults (i.e., teleiophiles) may have some sexual interest in pubescent-aged individuals,Freund, K., Langevin, R., Cibiri, S., & Zajac, Y. (1973). Heterosexual aversion in homosexual males. British Journal of Psychiatry, 122, 163-169. the term hebephilia is reserved for those who prefer pubescent-aged individuals over adults. Etiology As with sexual preference in general, it is not known what causes someone to be sexually interested in pubescent children rather than in adults. A team of Canadian sexologists has published a series of research articles comparing biologically relevant characteristics of clinical samples of pedophiles, hebephiles, and teleiophiles (individuals with a sexual preference for adults). In such samples, hebephilic men are midway between pedophilic men and teleiophilic men on average IQ (with pedophiles scoring the lowest),Cantor, J. M., Blanchard, R., Christensen, B. K., Dickey, R., Klassen, P. E., Beckstead, A. L., et al. (2004). Intelligence, memory, and handedness in pedophilia. Neuropsychology, 18, 3–14. memory test scores (with pedophiles scoring the lowest), rates of non-right-handedness,Cantor, J. M., Klassen, P. E., Dickey, R., Christensen, B. K., Kuban, M. E., Blak, T., et al. (2005). Handedness in pedophilia and hebephilia. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 34, 447–459. rates of school grade failures over and above the IQ differences (with pedophiles having the most frequent grade failures),Cantor, J. M., Kuban, M. E., Blak, T., Klassen, P. E., Dickey, R., & Blanchard, R. (2006). Grade failure and special education placement in sexual offenders’ educational histories. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 35, 743–751. rates of having suffered head injuries in childhood (with pedophiles having the highest rates of injuries),Blanchard, R., Kuban, M. E., Klassen, P., Dickey, R., Christensen, B. K., Cantor, J. M., & Blak, T. (2003). Self-reported injuries before and after age 13 in pedophilic and non-pedophilic men referred for clinical assessment. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 32, 573–581.Blanchard, R., Christensen, B. K., Strong, S. M., Cantor, J. M., Kuban, M. E., Klassen, P., Dickey, R., & Blak, T. (2002). Retrospective self-reports of childhood accidents causing unconsciousness in phallometrically diagnosed pedophiles. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 31, 511–526. and physical height.Cantor, J. M., Kuban, M. E., Blak, T., Klassen, P. E., Dickey, R., & Blanchard, R. (2007). Physical height in pedophilia and hebephilia. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 19, 395–407. Prevalence of hebephilia versus pedophilia There are clinical and correctional samples of sexual offenders in which hebephilic men outnumber the pedophilic men.Cantor, J. M., Blanchard, R., Christensen, B. K., Dickey, R., Klassen, P. E., Beckstead, A. L., et al. (2004). Intelligence, memory, and handedness in pedophilia. Neuropsychology, 18, 3–14.Gebhard, P. H., Gagnon, J. H., Pomeroy, W. B., & Christenson, C. V. (1965). Sex offenders: An analysis of types. New York: Harper & Row.Studer, L. H., Aylwin, A. S., Clelland, S. R., Reddon, J. R., & Frenzel, R. R. (2002). Primary erotic preference in a group of child molesters. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 25, 173–180. Moreover, anonymous surveys of people sexually interested in children more frequently report an erotic interest in pubescent children than in prepubescent children.Bernard, F. (1975). An enquiry among a group of pedophiles. The Journal of Sex Research, 11, 242–255.Wilson, G. D., & Cox, D. N. (1983). Personality of paedophile club members. Personality and Individual Differences, 4, 323–329. See also * Paraphilia References Category:Paraphilias Category:Sexual development